Manufacture of spun artificial fibers



March 21, 1944. R ODIGUAM I 2,344,892

MANUFACTURE SPUN ARTIFICIAL FIBERS Filed April 26, 1958 g W g;

fl ll lillllll Patented Mar. 21, 1944 Piero Modigliani and ValentinoWhnel, Leghorn, Italy, assignors, by meme assignments, to Owens-CorningFiberglas Corporation, Toledo. Ohio, a corporation of DelawareApplication April 23, 1938, Serial No. 204,444 In Italy May 3. 193'! 8Claims. (01. s x- 15?) The present invention relates to the manufactureoi an intermediate spinning product in the form of a strip of artificialfibers such 'as glass, rayon, artificial wool or the like, obtained in asingle piece of constant width taken previously from a large cylinder ofthread by an uninterrupted helicoidal separation.

The thread cylinder may suitably be one on which the filaments are drawndirectly from the nozzles of the spinneret associated with the containerfor the base material- The latter is substantially stationary and itslength is equal to that of the winding and storage drum. The threadcylinder is in the form of a thick layer of all the filaments deliveredand collected together in approximately parallel arrangement on thedrum, except for a slight crossing which can be imparted by a short andslow oscillatory rectilinear movement of the storage material for theartificial fibers or the furnace in the case of glass and the respectivefeed opening. Instead ofmoving the source of supply the winding drum maybe reciprocated to occasion a crossing of the fibres.

In a subsequent operative step, and at any desired time or place ahelicoidal incision is made may be removedas desired when the winding ofthe filamentsis completed, whereupon the spinneret or openings in thecontainer for the base material may be pased in front of the other drumfor laying the fiber cylinder thereupon. In such manner, during thewinding on one drum, the drum previously charged may be disconnectedfrom its rotary shaft and is ready for the helicoidal incision of thewound fiber mat to obtain the strand or striplffor storage or foradditional handling. If. desired, suitable variable speed transmissionsbetween the two drums workin simultaneously may, be provided.

The invention may be understood from the followingdescription relativeto an embodiment given by way of example only, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement for converting the filament into a twistedyarn by the production of a strip'taken spirally or helicoidally from adrum on which the filaments are spun and drawn originally.

Fig. 2 shows said strip wound on a large reel,

in the thread cylinder which influences the entire depth of the layerstored on the drum, thus producing a strip having a width which may beproportional to its depth or height. This strip or strand is formed oflong parallel filaments, of a length corresponding to the sum of all thespirals formed from the body of the thread cylinder.

This strand, strip, twist or roving is by this time ready to be spun andtwisted to obtain a yarn composed of a plurality of filamentsof uniformstate and not requiring substantial drawing to have its fibers parallel.This strip or roving may be unwound from the drum of original productionand then re-wound on large reels, or spools, or on normal reels with apreliminary twisting.

The helicoidal or spirally cut strand may be obtained preferably on thesame machine producing the thread covering on the drum, by means of aknife cutting into the thread covering which advances by means of a wormand threaded spindle device of the type which is commonly used toadvance uniformly a cutting or shaping tool in the field of metalworking machines.

In a preferred operative form of the apparatus there are provided on thesame horizontal shaft two rotary drums. Each of the two may beintegrally connected to the shaft, which is set in rotary movement bymeans of a coupling which ing.

Referring specifically to said figures: A

In Figure 1 is shown a movable source of supply furnace l for the basematerial travelling on a rail 2 and carrying a spinneret 3 with openings4 for discharging the filaments arranged in a long row. The filamentsare laterally displaced along a line which is as long as the drum 5therebelow for collecting and drawing the filaments 6,correimperceptible but appreciable crossing of the fibers, whichprevents agglomeration. Mounted at the right of the drum 5, and on thesame shaft, is a drum in, which may likewise be coupled with the shaftby means of the connection 8'. The drum 5a. may be set in rotation whenthe winding of the drum 5 is completed. At this time, the furnace l isshifted to the position I,

indicated in dotted lines within the field of operation of drum 5'.

A knife 9 is carried by asupport in and may be made to pass all the waytoward the left or the right from one of the ends of the drum 5 or thedrum in, and then be advanced progressively and' continuously from saidposition by means of the threaded spindle Ii receiving rotationalmovement through a gear train l2, l3, ll. The: advance of the knifeaccording to the rotational velocity of the drum causes the formation ofa helicoidal incision I 5 of constant pitch, through the thickness ofthe glass filament covering on the drum, which pitch is afunction of theperipheral velocity of the thread covering and of the angular rotationalvelocity of the threaded spindle II. It is apparent that the width ofthe strip I6 determined by the distance or spacing of two adjacentgrooves or the like in its total development and length, correspondsexactly to the area of the thread cylinder.

Figure 1 shows at the lower end thereof fthe reel It with the wingtwister IT by means off-which the strip l6 derived from thread cylinderon cylinder 5a is wound and twisted, which can be done suitably whileforming the covering of the drum 5.

The helicoidal' incision l5, which forms an uninterrupted strip, thetotal area of which is equal to the total area of the thread coveringproduced or collected on the drum, may be made in any other convenientmanner. The incision or separation may be made shortly before thewinding and twisting or shortly before winding the strip on a spindle,drum or reel (Fig. 2) for subsequent operation, to obtain the yarn onlarge scale production. 01' course the cutting operation may be executedon a machine other than one connected with the fiber laying apparatus,

The dimensions of the thread is constant and depends on the thickness ofthe thread layer on the drum and on the pitch of the helicoidalincision, which pitch may be varied by changing the gear ratio of thetrain l2, II, N, that is, varying the angular speed of the shaft l irelativeto that of the drum.

During the entire operation the new product is the parallel fiber strip,obtained by helicoidal incision, whose fibres have a total length equalto the scope of the invention.

what we claim is: 1. Themethod of producing strips of artificial fiberswhich comprises drawing artificial fibers,

' helically winding the fibers on the surface of a support to form a matthereof, and progressively cutting a continuous spiral strip ofpredetermined width from said mat.

2. The method of producing strands of artificial fibers which comprisescontinuously drawing artificial fibers, winding the fibers in acylindrica mat formation with the fibers in approximateli paralleldisposition, and cutting the cylindrica mat of fibers in the form of acontinuous spira strand.

3. The method of producing strips of artificial fibers which comprisesforming' a plurality oi individually spaced artificial fibers, windingthe fibers into a cylindrical mat formation, and progressively cutting.acontinuous spiral strip oi predetermined width from said matcorresponding to the thickness thereof.

4. The method of producing strands of artificial fibers which comprisesforming a plurality -,ofdndividually spaced artificial fibers, windingthe fibers into a cylindrical mat formation, progressively cutting'acontinuous spiral strand of predetermined width from said mat, andreeling the strand.

5. The method of producing strips of artificial fibers which comprisesforming a plurality of individually spaced artificial fibers, windingthe fibers into a cylindrical mat formation, progressively cutting acontinuous spiral strip of predetermined width from said matcorresponding to the thickness thereof, and spooling said strand whilesimultaneously twisting it,

6. The method of forming a strip or strand of artificial fibers such asglass, rayon, artificial wool and the like, composed of slightly crossedfibers which consists in accumulating a plurality of fibers upon acylinder to form a felt or mat of slightly crossed fibers and cuttingsuch mat into strips by a single helicoidal incision through thethickness of the accumulated fibers upon the drum.

7. The method of forming a strip of glass fibers which consists ofsimultaneously producing a multiplicity of single fibers, winding aplurality of layers of said fibers on a drum, the fibers of each layercrossing the fibers of an adjacent layer whereby a mat of crossed fibersis formed on the drum and cutting helically the mat so formed so as toproduce a single continuous strip.

8. The method of forming a strip of glass fibers vwhich consists ofsimultaneously producing a multiplicity of single fibers, helicallywinding said fibers simultaneously on a drum in one direction to form asingle layer of fibers and thereafter helically winding said fiberssimultaneously in a reverse direction to form a superposed layer offibers upon the first named layer whereby a mat of crossed fibers isformed on the drum and cuta single continuous strip.

PIERO MODIGLIANI. VALENTINO WIQUEL.

